Microsoft

Driving Record-Breaking Attendance At A Global Gathering

Wire Stone blew away expectations to help Microsoft Ignite explode

Microsoft Ignite 2016

Microsoft Ignite is where developers and IT professionals congregate to find out what’s next in tech. This in-person event is a major strategic investment for Microsoft, designed to drive sales engagement, build platform confidence, and nurture a burgeoning community of brand loyalists. Microsoft selected Wire Stone to create a demand-gen campaign to build a sustained wave of excitement and attract the largest audience possible.

Based on our recommendations, Microsoft redirected traditional online media spend into a campaign focused on owned properties, including heavy social engagement. As a result of this strategy we were able to surpass all goals—we were tasked with getting 15,000 people to attend, and ultimately more than 23,000 traveled to Atlanta from all over the world to make it the largest in-person Microsoft event ever.

Our fully integrated campaign fused data science and timely, relevant creative to light up the social spheres, resulting in a sold-out event more than a month before the doors opened. This enabled us to redirect budget to launch additional tactics that created active Microsoft evangelism, including a “ninja papercraft” project that caused a landslide of organic activity. This simple idea caught fire and became the dominant icon of the event, with myriad participants proudly sharing media with their tribes to say, “I’m a Microsoft tech ninja!”

“I’m really excited to work with Wire Stone again this year to continue to build our community.”